


Hurt

by inkwells_writing



Category: Hetalia: Axis Powers
Genre: :), Cardverse, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Major Character Injury, this is a separate cardverse au from all my others btw
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-06
Updated: 2019-01-06
Packaged: 2019-10-05 08:46:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,233
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17321759
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/inkwells_writing/pseuds/inkwells_writing
Summary: It was strange how one’s body could be in so much pain but your mind would allow you to stay calm.





	Hurt

The Queen of Spades had been raised as royalty since he was but a child. When the previous Queen had succumbed to the disease sweeping the Card Kingdoms, she had fallen. Arthur had taken her place, not yet to be crowned ‘til he was 18, but ruling still. 

He had been raised to be clever, quick, impassive, and completely in-control of every situation. 

When Alfred had first met the Queen, his first thought was that, yeah, they’d done a good job of raising a stubborn and boring Queen.

He quickly learned otherwise, as he got to know the Queen. He learned Arthur had a soft side, but it was being held back by years and years of training and scoldings. Sometimes, if he got lucky, he’d see Arthur’s real smile (not the fake one he used politically), he could see Arthur laugh (he once made Arthur giggle!), he could watch the Queen of Spades relax, if only a little, and roll up his sleeves. He’d sparred with him before, seen a competitive side of the man.

But these were all glimpses.

But they were all enough to make him fall in love. 

And yet, even as the King of Spades, they were rare moments. 

So, it was shocking to see Arthur kneeling above him, gasping for breath through his sobs. That much emotion was rare, it was hard for him to focus on anything. The glow of magic surrounding the two of them likely had something to do with it. 

He could feel the magic of Spades coursing through his body. Now, Alfred wasn’t very  _ good _ at magic, but he knew enough to know Arthur was keeping him alive. 

A gaping hole in his stomach was probably making that difficult. 

War sucked. 

It took him a second, but Alfred realized his eyes had closed. He wanted to open them, but it was so much more peaceful to keep them closed. Then, he wouldn’t have to see the tears on his Queen’s face.

_ Those _ hurt a lot to see. 

He couldn’t hear anything. It was strange. He normally had pretty good hearing, but perhaps the magic was restricting it? Or maybe his body was trying so desperately to preserve him it wasn’t worried about him hearing anything. 

There was something wet on his face.

It was enough to make Alfred open his eyes. Arthur was leaning closer to him, mouth moving frantically as a hand was shaking his shoulder. Huh. He hadn’t felt that.

And then, sound returned.

He first noticed the clashing of blades and the screaming and the screams that were cut off and-

“-ease, please, Alfred, I can’t go back to ruling alone, wake up, open your eyes,  _ I’m not going to let you die-” _

Alfred knew enough about magic to  _ feel _ it in his words. Arthur was the Queen of Spades, and by the Sorts, he was going to keep Alfred alive. 

Opening his mouth, he wanted to speak, but found that nothing could come out. He shifted, just slightly, but it was enough to set his body on fire. 

He gasped, likely the first noise he’s made in awhile, because suddenly Arthur’s hands were everywhere, frantic, his voice cracking as he asked- as he begged, “No, Alfred, you’re okay, you’re going to be okay. We just have to wait for Matthew- we can heal you properly together. You’re okay. Just stay calm-”

Alfred focused on Arthur’s voice, and found the energy to speak up, “I think you need to stay calm, not me.” He was surprised at how strained his voice was. Either way, he got his words out. 

_ Arthur liked when he joked, right?  _ He would always smile, a little, when Alfred would joke around in the palace. 

At the influx of tears, Alfred guessed he didn’t like them. 

Raising a shaky hand up, Alfred cupped Arthur’s face and brushed under his eyes with his thumb, wiping away the tears. “I’m okay.” He would have enjoyed touching Arthur like this for the first time had it not resulted in a shaky whine from the man. 

Arthur shook his head, dislodging Alfred’s hand as he choked out, “You’re not, though! You only think you are because I’m slowing your body down- the Sort won’t lend me this much magic for much longer,  _ where is Matthew,  _ I can’t-” 

“It’ll be fine. It doesn’t hurt that bad-” His words were cut off as his stomach clenched, sending waves of pain throughout his body. “ _ Fuck- _ ” He curled in on himself, trying to hold back the fire in his body. 

“What’s wrong, Alfred, how can I help-  _ why did I never learn healing magic- _ ” Arthur cut himself off as his head whipped towards the edge of the small bubble he’d surrounded them with, on edge as someone likely got to close. Alfred could only assume it was his brother as Arthur let out a gasp of relief and let the barrier waver, just for a moment. 

In that second, Alfred was assaulted with the sounds and smells that had been muffled- how could one battle be so loud? It had felt loud before but now- the barrier returned and Alfred's vision was filled with his brother’s face. He looked scared, but somehow more composed than Arthur. 

Matthew quickly placed his hands on Alfred’s stomach, turning to Arthur and speaking, “Just, just try and channel as much of your magic into me as you can without killing yourself, okay? This is- shit- this is a big wound. I don’t-” He took a deep breath as he adjusted his hands, “I will save my idiotic brother.” 

And then Alfred had to close his eyes again, flinching back against the bright light assaulting his vision. His body hurt again, so desperately much, and as much as he didn’t want to, he screamed, fuck, it hurt so much, why-

But, the pain faded. His body was numb, back to how it felt right after he’d pushed Arthur out of the way of the sword. Numb was better than pain. 

Blinking, he opened his eyes again, seeing Arthur’s face above his again. His body was shifted, and he looked to his other side to see Matthew sitting him up and trying to get him to stand. 

His brother spoke to Arthur, but Alfred’s ears were still ringing. Arthur slipped an arm around Alfred, helping to pick him up. Try as he might, Alfred could not get his feet back under him. As the ringing began to fade, he heard Arthur sigh and shift him again. 

Turning his head, he caught Arthur’s red, puffy eyes. 

The man blinked, before leaning forwards and kissing Alfred.

Oh.

Oh!

His brain kicked into overdrive, still struggling to process it’s body’s injuries, and now with this on the list, it was chugging along.

But Arthur spared him the challenge of speaking as he looked forwards and let his barrier drop, “We’re going to have a long talk about you taking wounds for me when we get back to camp. And,” He trailed off as he and Matthew began to walk, slowly but surely, through the battle, “We’re going to talk about  _ us _ because I’m not going to live with that regret if-” He cut himself off, but Alfred didn’t need- want- him to finish. 

Matthew spoke up, “Listen, you’re both very romantic, but please do save this for back at camp.” 

Alfred smiled. 

**Author's Note:**

> thank you for reading!! kudos and comments are very much appreciated!!   
> if yall ever wanna request or see updates from me you can find me @inkwells-writing on tumblr!!


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